HHS has justified secretary Tom Price’s use of taxpayer-funded charter jets as necessary for official business, citing the risk of commercial flights being canceled or delayed. | Jacqueline Larma/AP Photo

New details cast doubt on why Tom Price needed a private jet

HHS Secretary Tom Price has been taking private jets because an unreliable commercial flight once forced him to cancel an important meeting, a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson says, part of his agenda to meet with average Americans outside of Washington.

But the flight in question — to a two-day industry conference at a Ritz-Carlton hotel in Southern California — didn't get off the ground on a day when storms virtually shut down air traffic in the Washington region, preventing even private jets from getting out.

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The details cast into doubt HHS' justification for Price's use of private jets as he faces criticism from congressional Democrats and a review of whether he complied with Federal Travel Regulations from his department's inspector general.

Price’s planned trip was to the Health Evolution Summit in early April, a 550-person event mostly attended by health industry executives and investors, say three individuals with knowledge of Price’s schedule. HHS has justified Price’s subsequent use of taxpayer-funded charter jets as necessary for official business, particularly given the risk of commercial flights being canceled or delayed.

“This is Secretary Price, getting outside of D.C., making sure he is connected with the real American people,” Charmaine Yoest, HHS spokeswoman, told The Washington Post. “Wasting four hours in an airport and having the secretary cancel his event is not a good use of taxpayer money.”

Yoest did not respond to POLITICO’s questions about why Price chose to make a two-day trip to a California industry conference and what the value was for taxpayers. She also declined to confirm that the scrapped April trip was the impetus for Price's subsequent travel.

POLITICO has identified at least 24 subsequent charter jet flights, costing more than $300,000, taken by Price at taxpayer expense in the past four months.

Price was planning on spending two days at the conference and one evening at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel. Coastal Living magazine says the hotel is “one of the finest luxury resorts in California,” known for its 150-foot bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The lowest room rate on websites like Orbitz was $499 per night when booked in advance.

Two attendees of the conference said that while the meeting was packed with industry executives — nearly 60 percent of attendees were company CEOs, chairmen, founders or presidents, according to the meeting’s website — there are often similar events in cities like Washington, D.C., and New York City. Price was the only government official listed on the conference’s website as a scheduled speaker.

Price was slated to attend dinner on Thursday night, April 6, and give a talk the next morning. However, his commercial flight out of Washington on Thursday morning — which one source said was aboard United Airlines — was grounded for hours as a severe storm hit the region; more than 900 flights out of Reagan National Airport were canceled or delayed that day.

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Price’s staff explored the use of a charter jet to get the secretary to the California event, but given the severe weather, private jets would have encountered similar delays or cancellations, two individuals with knowledge of the secretary’s travels said.

“There was no pressing business on the other end,” said one attendee with knowledge of Price’s schedule. “I was there and was shocked he was planning to come.”